Brazil's first probe missile prototype, the VBS-30, was launched this Saturday, Otober 23, at the Alcântara Launch Center, in Maranhão, northeastern Brazil.
The launch is part of the Cajuana Operation and was considered a success by the teams from the Aeronautics Institute of the Aerospace Technical Center (CTA/IAE) and the German Space Center, which are responsible for the program.
According to the press office of the Aeronautics Research Department, the missile remained for seven minutes in a microgravity environment.
The first VBS-30 operational flights are scheduled for November, 2005, and May, 2006. Both will lift European experiments to an altitude of 250 kilometers.
The VBS-30 contains various innovations in relation to other probe missiles previously produced in Brazil.
It has a booster engine to accelerate takeoff.
The prototype also possesses a system of bearings and fins (rollerons) to ensure greater precision in flight.
Moreover, the VBS-30 carries equipment that makes it possible to accompany the missile's trajectory by radar, telemetry, or GPS and gauge temperature and rotation.
Agência Brasil
Translator: David Silberstein
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